U.S. post-Christian population soars in 2015

Even though 78 percent of Americans are self-proclaimed “Christians,” the latest Barna Poll gives a clear indicator that Christianity is losing its grip across the country.

“While the United States remains shaped by Christianity, the faith’s influence — particularly as a force in American politics and culture — is slowly waning,” the Barna Group reports from its recent study. “An increasing number of religiously unaffiliated, a steady drop in church attendance, the recent Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, and the growing tension over religious freedoms all point to a larger secularizing trend sweeping across the nation.”

America might house the world’s largest Christian population, but research shows that the country founded upon biblical principles more than two centuries ago is actually in the midst of transitioning into a “post-Christian” nation from coast to coast.

Christianity gaged by fact, not self-perception

Statistics tallied by Barna researchers over a seven-year period from nearly 61,000 interviews exposes the “irreligion” setting in on U.S. cities.

One major finding reveals that from 2013─2015, the number of “post-Christian” Americans rose ever closer to 50 percent. But what exactly does “post-Christian” mean?

Wanting to find the ultimate spiritual thermometer of Americans’ faith, the Barna Group set out to get a better idea about the true faith of the population by looking for a number of key faith indicators determined by both practice and belief. To do this, researchers used 15 metrics to measure factoring in participants’ lack of Christian identity, belief and practice in their daily lives. In order to qualify as “post-Christian,” individuals in the study needed to meet nine (60 percent) of the 15 criteria below … and the “highly post-Christian” designation was met by individuals meeting 12 (80 percent) of the following factors:

1. Do not believe in God
2. Identify as atheist or agnostic
3. Disagree that faith is important in their lives
4. Have not prayed to God (in the last year)
5. Have never made a commitment to Jesus
6. Disagree the Bible is accurate
7. Have not donated money to a church (in the last year)
8. Have not attended a Christian church (in the last year)
9. Agree that Jesus committed sins
10. Do not feel a responsibility to “share their faith”
11. Have not read the Bible (in the last week)
12. Have not volunteered at church (in the last week)
13. Have not attended Sunday school (in the last week)
14. Have not attended religious small group (in the last week)
15. Do not participate in a house church (in the last year)

And the survey says …

Barna researchers are confident that their exhaustive analysis more accurately portrays where Americans stand when it comes to living out and identifying with their faith.

“These kinds of questions — compared to ticking the “Christian” box in a census — get beyond how people loosely identify themselves (affiliation), and get to the core of what people actuallybelieve and how they behave as a result of their belief (practice),” Barna’s research team contends. “These indicators give a much more accurate picture of belief in America.”

Credit to Gopusa.com